As a father of twins too I STRONGLY concur
Lots of fun, isn’t it? Did yours have their own weird language or any kind of telekinesis? Mine did when they were younger, and some weird things when one was living with mom and the other me, but not crazy weird stuff.
The Top 15 Stupid Things People Say to Parents of Twins (some of these I’ve actually heard, you might have heard some of these as well):
15. “I could never do it.” (Oh really. What would you do? Are you suggesting I put them on the curb with signs around their necks that say, “Free to a good home. My mom can’t do it.”?)
14. “Do they have different personalities?” (No. They are the same human being divided into two parts.)
13. Said by a stranger, “They’re identical, right?” Mom answers, “No. They’re fraternal.” Stranger response, “They are NOT!” (OK. You’re right. I have no idea what I’m talking about. These are not my children. I thought it would be fun to borrow them from a mom down at Baby Gap. It’s been more than an hour. I guess I should return them.)
12. “Are they ‘paternal’ twins?” (Yes. They have a father. There was only one virgin birth.)
11. “Just wait till they’re older. It only gets harder.” (Thank you. I woke up this morning hoping I’d receive a word of discouragement while pushing a cart of preschoolers down the cereal aisle.)
10. “When one cries, does he wake the other?” (No. Twins cannot hear each other’s cries because they all communicate with their special telepathic language only.)
9. From a perfect stranger: “Were they in the same sac?” (Hello. Nice to meet you, too. Will you be sharing your gynecological history with me as well?)
8. “Are they developmentally behind?” (Well, let’s see. They’re 3 years old and thus far, all their graduate school applications have been denied. We’ll get back with you on that.)
7. “How do you do it?” (Haven’t you seen the Nike commercials?)
6. Said by a dentist: “I was shocked that they didn’t have the same bite patterns.” (They are two different human beings, not clones.)
5. “You must be SO busy.” (Are you volunteering to clean my house?)
4. Said to a mom of fraternal twins who are different sizes, have different eye color and different face structure: “How do you tell them apart?” (I just look at them.)
3. “What do you do when they both cry at the same time?” (Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I go to Starbucks.)
2. Said to a mom of boy/girl twins: “Are they identical?” (Uh. Not exactly.)
1. Only one comment could be voted No. 1. The choice was clear. Drum roll, please. After a stranger had been informed that the toddler boys were twins, she asked a simple question: “Are they brothers?” (Enough said.)
Since the triplets and their “big” sister are only 11 months apart, people often think they are quads or two sets of twins which is understandable. But one time someone asked their dad if they were quintuplets to which he said “Yes, yes they are.” Then he counted; 1,2,3,4….and said¸”Oh my God! We lost one!”(He quickly told the person he was joking). Another time when the girls were babies and in double strollers, I was at the local mall with my niece, she pushing one stroller and me the other and someone passing us said very loudly “Oh look, identical twin sisters who had identical twins – at the very same time!” While there is a family resemblance, my niece and I besides there being a 20+ year age difference, don’t look anything alike. Then there have been people who wanted to know what sort of “position” my niece and her husband were in when they conceived. One day in answer to that question from a rather rude woman, my niece said, “Our position was to be heavily invested in small cap and immerging growth international stocks but lately we’ve taken to a more conservative position with more in money markets and T-bills. How about you?”
But the one that really get’s to my niece is when someone asks, “Are they “natural”?” She usually smiles and simply says “yes” but sometimes she’ll answer by saying something like, “Well, three of them are but the bigger one…have you ever seen the movie AI?” Or “Yes and no. Two of them we picked up at Whole Foods but the other two, we think they were made in a Chinese factory because they have a lot of melamine and lead in them.”
The triplets are 4 years old now and starting to understand what that means, the identical twins have recently started to pull pranks by switching clothes and answering to each other’s names. The other day one of them was telling her aunt, “Me and my sister were in one egg. Then one day; CRACK! And now we are two!” LOL!